We headed out of Texas after a stop at the Texas RT66 Visitor Center. Unfortunately, it was Sunday so iIt was closed, but we took our photo just to prove we were there. Mimi somehow managed to close her ankle in the door of the RV, which was quite a pinch. You will want to avoid doing that. Papa couldn’t figure out how that happened and honestly, neither could I! Thankfully, no harm done. Whew.
Then we moved on down Route 66 to the Texas Ivy Antiques & Gifts Shop, which, again, was closed. Ivy is right! We’ve never seen so much ivy on a building. If you aren’t sure what ivy is, check out the picture. Again, no stamp for us so a picture will have to do. After this stop, we hopped back on 40 (which runs next to RT66 - just faster) and made our next stop in Vega, TX at the Milburn-Price Culture Museum. And … this was closed, too; however, they had a note on the door to call a number if you were after a stamp for the passport book – so, that’s just what we did! It turns out, because this happens often, the sweet lady on the phone (Greg’s wife) told us where we could find the stamp, and the treasures that come with, to stamp the book ourselves. Everyone should do that! She told us to take a coin and a postcard that told the story of Black Sunday when a severe dust storm hit in 1935. The postcard has a glass jar with sand inside glued to it.
After a couple of hours we crossed into New Mexico! It was amazing to watch how the landscape began to change from flat land in Texas to more mountainous in New Mexico. We saw trains that ran along the route with us that were far greater in length than what we’ve ever seen in Parish! Some of them seemed to go for miles and miles, with two or three engines on them. The drive was pretty, but I am afraid my pictures through the windshield won’t reveal anything but dead bugs. We’ve discovered an RV seems to collect and show more bugs than the car.
One of the suggested stops on the RoadTrippers APP is Russell’s Travel Center and Car Museum. We decided that would be the perfect place to stop for lunch in honor of our own Russell family members. We were happy we did. There is an authentic Route 66 Diner and a classic car and memorabilia museum. I can’t wait to show Great Grandpa and Grandma Okerlund the photos I took of the cars. I think they will appreciate them.
There are only two stamps to collect in New Mexico and the first one is at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post in Albuquerque. We went in to the trading post for a stamp and came out with a stamp, a sticker and a place to park. We decided it was time to call it a day and they had space for us. We had to move when the first site kept tripping the electric, so we went from H7 to B2. When dinner and the dishes were finished, we decided it was time for a walk.
We met a father and son who live in New Mexico and were headed out of town, but parked for the night due to a bad accident on Route 40 that had traffic stopped for miles. (We saw the sign that said to expect long delays and were glad we’d decided to stop!) He’d been RVing for many years and gave us some pointers.
Papa was able to wash the front of the RV, while Mimi walked to the back of the park for some sunset pictures. It was a beautiful night. God sure did a fantastic job creating so much beauty around us. We should enjoy it more often than we do, I think. That should about do it for day eight. Do you know what state we will be entering next?
Love and miss you,
❤️ Papa and Mimi